Who is eligible for PTECH?

All Idaho high school students are eligible.

How much does PTECH cost?

PTECH is a nonprofit entity that supports Idaho students through scholarships and sponsorships. Therefore, there is no out-of-pocket expense for enrolled students or their parents. We cover employability skills training, transportation to events, tours and conferences, some books and materials, and PTECH swag.

Do I need parent permission to enroll?

If you are a minor (under the age of 18), we will send you a permission slip that your parent/guardian can sign electronically.

What is the time commitment?

It is up to you how much time you spend on career exploration. PTECH is set up so that you get out of it what you put in. Generally, it can take a student six months to feel like they have fully explored their interests and career options and have built a career plan.

What kinds of education and training will I receive?

PTECH doesn’t deliver training or classes. We help students identify the classes and/or training that they need for their desired career plan. We offer competitive scholarships for training or college programs to students who can demonstrate how the training or college program fits into their career plan (enrolled students should look at the Resources tab in Community). We also offer students a chance to learn more about employability skills (or soft skills), and give them an understanding of what employers are looking for and how students can demonstrate these skills to employers.

What careers are in high demand right now?

PTECH supports students through general career exploration but focuses on job placement in specific high growth Idaho industries, including technology, healthcare, aerospace and advanced manufacturing. Hot jobs right now in Idaho include:

What is coaching and how will it help me?

As PTECH students move through their career exploration journey, they will have the chance to work with a coach. A PTECH Coach is someone that students meet with remotely (usually via Skype or something similar), and they help guide students through their career planning journey.

Coaching is about communication, which simply means getting in the habit of talking to your coach about your career plans and being willing to discuss future goals, what motivates or drives you to achieve, and how your career plan can achieve that personal objective. Coaching is also about understanding what it will take to achieve your career goal in the future, and putting that into perspective with other factors in your life (family, friends, relationships, geography, your community, your health and personal well-being, and your financial situation too) that are important. A coach is there to facilitate these types of discussions in order to make you feel comfortable and confident in your choices in life, and to allow you to better see how these choices affect your current career pathway and how they will affect this career moving forward.

Finally, coaching is about recognizing and gaining skills that can be used in the workforce, such as effective communication, maintaining commitments, a professional demeanor, punctuality and courtesy, and a proactive approach to your own life, to name only a few.